STEVIA FACTSStevia originally came from the rain forests of Brazil and Paraguay, But, now we can also find Stevia in South East Asia. Stevia is believed to benefit people suffered from high blood pressure and help control glucose levels. Consequently, it has been used as a non-sugar sweetener for food and drinks and as remedy for diabetes [1]

Active Ingredients of SteviaStevia leave contains various glycosides including stevoside. Stevoside is a natural sweetener. It is a a diterpenic carboxylic alcohol with three glucose molecules [12]

Stevoside is about 100-200 times sweeter than sugar. Some doctors may use it to reduce blood pressure and help patients suffered from diabetes [2,3].

RATS Melis MS. demonstrated that stevioside (from Stevia rebaudiana leaves) provoked hypotension (blood pressure lowering effect), diuresis and natriuresis in both the normal and hypertensive rats. Normal rats presented an increase in renal plasma flow (RPF) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) constant following stevioside administration. The last effect is in part due to vasodilation of both the afferent and efferent arterioles. [8]

Chan P et al demonstrated the blood pressure lowering effect of stevioside (from Stevia rebaudiana leaves) on both systolic and diastolic blood pressure of rats. It is in a dose-proportional fashion. They found no significant changes in serum dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine levels 60 min after intravenous injection of stevioside 100 mg/kg in anesthetized rats. [10]

DOG Stevioside (from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana) also showed significant hypotensive effects in renal hypertensive dogs, in a dose-dependent manner and its hypotensive (blood pressure lowering effect) mechanism may be probably due to inhibition of the Ca(2+) influx. [13]

DiabetesStevia extracts may benefit people at risk of diabetes, as they may help to control blood glucose levels. However, users must be careful, if they are also on anti-diabetic medications. In 1986, Curi R et al, Universidade de Maringa, Brasil, demonstrated that aqueous extracts of Stevia rebaudiana leaves could increase glucose tolerance in a study of 16 healthy human subjects. [15]

On the other hand, Chen TH and co-workers found that stevioside (from stevia) was able to regulate blood glucose levels by enhancing not only insulin secretion, but also insulin utilization in insulin-deficient rats; the latter was due to decreased phosphoenol pyruvate carboxykinase gene expression in rat liver by stevioside's action of slowing down gluconeogenesis. [19]

ANTI-CANCER ACTIVITIESStevia may benefit people at risk of certain cancers, but the evidence is very limited. Yasukawa K and his co-workers isolated four steviol (ent-kaurene-type diterpenoid) glycosides, stevioside, rebaudiosides A and C, and dulcoside A) from Stevia rebaudiana BERTONI and they found a strong inhibitory effect of these steviols on 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced inflammation in mice. [20]

ANTI-MICROBIAL ACTIVITIESStevia may have benefits of anti-microbial activities, the scientific evidence is very limited. Amaro-Luis et al isolated ombuoside from aerial parts of Stevia triflora and prepared derivatives of it- octa-acetylombuoside, ombuine and retusine. They found these compounds were against a few types of gram positive bacteria. [21]___________________________________________________________________________________________

HOW DOES STEVIA ABSORBED AND METABOLISED?Rats received a single oral administration of either steviol or stevia mixture; a peak steviol plasma concentration appeared 15 min after its oral administration. However, after oral administration of stevia mixture, the steviol concentration in plasma increased steadily over 8 h, [22]

DOSAGE AND SIDE EFFECTS OF STEVIAStevia probably is safe without significant adverse or toxic effects [4,6,9]. Stevia accounts for about 40% of the sweetener market in Japan and is widely used in South America.[5] However, I received piles of complaints from readers on stevia side effects._________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Reasonable care has been taken in preparing this document and the information provided herein is believed to be accurate. The information is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice. It is important to seek the advice of a physician about any medical condition or symptom or the benefits and side effects of a supplement or a drug product. Finally, please, do not transfer the article to other website. Thank you. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.